WinHEC 2005: Day One Blog [Updated]

5:30 amMicrosoft has given out Longhorn build 5048 to showgoers as promised. I find it interesting that they provided the build the day before the show opens. This suggest that it isn't all that exciting to look at, an opinion which is backed up when you actually install the thing. I'll have a screenshot gallery available later today, but Neowin has a few shots available here.

I'm taking two PCs to the show, an HP widescreen notebook and (heh) an Apple Powerbook. I'm going to try and record as much as I can for future reference. These shows are always horribly busy for me. I'm going to try and have some fun this time, for a change.

Steve Bink arrived after what I'm sure was a long flight. I believe Tom Warren is here too, but haven't spoken with him yet.

Chris Wilson at the IEBlog over on MSDN has revealed a few more IE 7 details, so I'll need to update my IE 7 Preview: "The first couple of things they’ve done are support the alpha channel in PNG images \[and\] address CSS consistency problems ... we’re really excited that the beta release is almost here."

I've tried installing Longhorn 5048 in Virtual PC 7 but it will not work. I'll try VMWare next and then just parition the laptop if it comes to that. Astonishing that Microsoft's own product doesn't work however.

They're letting people into the keynote theatre at 9:30 to 9:40, so I've got over an hour and a half to make this work.

A Microsoft source just told me how to enable DCE in Longhorn 5048. Turns out they couldn't take it out because it broke stuff, so they just hid it. I'll take pictures if I get it working.

11:45The Gates keynote is over. Nothing dramatic over my ealier preview. However, I'd like to highlight one very important fact you'll not find out about elsewhere: That Longhorn UI that was shown off today was not the final UI, which will be much more impressive. We'll see that at the PDC this September, I'm told.

A few highlights from the keynote:

XP x64 and Windows Server 2003 x64 are now available.

Gates never said "640KB is enough for anyone."

Some auxiliary displays on 2006-7 era notebooks and Tablet PCs will feature color screens similar to those on Pocket PCs.

Gates showed off a 9-inch Tablet PC-like device that he called Ultra Mobile 2007. It won't be shipping until Longhorn.

Some Longhorn features will be back-ported to Win32 (and not be made available only through WinFX), which was unexpected. Very little was said about this, however.

The Longhorn demos weren't particularly spectacular. Microsoft should have noted that the UI wasn't the final one. OS X fans will jeer at the quality of the Longhorn display that was showed off, for example.

The Longhorn delivery timeline has been adjusted yet again: Beta 1 will ship this summer, followed by a second developer preview in September at the PDC. Beta 2 will ship after that, at which time Longhorn builds will be offered to the public. Longhorn is now due in time for Holiday 2006, and not for mid-2006 as previously planned.

This wasn't discussed at the keynote, but I've heard from sources that Office 12 will now ship before Longhorn in mid-2006. To meet this new deadline, all Longhorn-related features will be removed and shipped separately to Office 12 customers after Longhorn ships. You heard that here first.

2:00pm

I've posted a number of updates to the SuperSite. Not sure when they'll be live.

Discuss this Article 253

Anonymous User (not verified)

on Apr 27, 2005

"And, by the way, don't forget who came up with the Virtual PC for Mac! American Megatrends, Inc, and then Microsoft took them over"
What are you talking about? American Megatrends is a BIOS supplier... Connectix is the company that created VPC... get your facts straight.

Well, I'll return to this site on friday, after having actually used Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and give you sonme feedback on features that Windows may copy in the future, so you can get an idea how Longhorn may work.
You will return to this site hoping that you'll get some tidbit of information for vaporware.

Not here to read about all the petty griping and OS envy of one group or another. I would just like to hear about the current technology behind LH. I have used both Mac and PC products and like them both.
OSX does offer some great things and that is understandable considering they also make their own hardware and don't have to worry about millions of different hardware combinations out there. It is a very nice OS and having UNIX behind it is a great plus.
Windows is also a great OS considering everything it has to consider (hardware configurations, drivers, etc) So many applications and games run on it that it is hard to ignore.
I say kudos to both companies for trying to push the computing world further and harder than ever before. The only thing that can come out of fierce competition (and not childish name calling) is better OS's, better experiences, and happier end users for both camps.

I really do not believe any of you ranters are using your computers to do anything but screw around with your "widgets," and waste days posting crap to "chat" sites. Are the hard-working developers of your systems (Mac, or Windows) creating only toys for you children to play with? Well, then maybe the money you spend will ultimately allow Apple AND Microsoft to develope the systems we serious people use to do real work? I came to this particular blog to get some information/insight on the upcoming developments in 64-bit computing on the Windows platform, and the WinHEC conference-- what do I find but, yet again, a bunch of kids who care about nothing but bashing, and ranting about whos got the best computer system (Apple, or MicroSoft?)-- a pointless, and childish pursuit. I know people who use pocket calculators and are quite happy with them; others who still read newspapers; others who still use a pencil and paper from time to time; and others who use mainframe computers. Its what you do that is important-- learn to improve computer systems if you feel so upset by them, take a course in computer engineering, do something useful-- find some relevent information to post here, or don't post here!

I like it how this whole page is just "I'm a Mac user, you Widows idiots can't stop talking about MacOS." "Urrr, I'm a Windows user, you Mac users are Gay."
Not even like one post is actually on-topic.

PCWorld.com headlines today:
Widespread Internet Attack Cripples PCs with Spyware
WinHEC: Microsoft Delays Palladium Security Plan
I use all 3 - XP, OS X and Linux. It's fun to skate across all of them and each has its pros and cons but how anyone can be a "fan" of Windows and passionately defend the platform baffles me given the contrast between the profitabilit and the lack of security and innovation.

"If I want to take a Mac to a spin, I can just download pear PC and call it a day. That is how awesome the PC is"
Funny, PearPC takes what, 10 minutes just to boot? Get real and stop trolling.
I'm running Windows XP in Virtual PC on my Mac as I type this. :)

Companies suffer from the attack in a number of ways. First, the Internet connection for anyone using the poisoned DNS server--often the entire company in the case of smaller businesses--is completely disrupted. All Web traffic and e-mail trying to go to any .com site gets hijacked for as long as the DNS server remains compromised.
Even after the DNS server is fixed, the company has to clean the adware and spyware from any affected computers, an onerous task that can keep IT people like David Parsons, who supports about 7000 people in his help-desk job at a Boston hospital, extremely busy. Parsons says his hospital was "slammed for about two days straight" by the DNS poisoning attacks starting March 29.
Dunham conservatively estimates that 3000 DNS servers at a range of U.S. companies, including at least two with more than 8000 employees, were compromised over the past month due to the ignorant Wintel-centric blather emanating from their IT departments.

Wow, you windows zealots sure are dumb. Windows is good for "true computing" is it? What exactly is "true computing"? Please, enlighten me. Is it crashing and burning like a typical windows box does? I work at an insurance company that is NOTHING but windows machines and there are so many problems with them it is insane. No matter what manufacturer they come from, there is always a problem. Just face it, windows is crap. It always has been and always will be. You can have fun with your $300 machine that is 'super 1337' and I'll take my rock solid Powermac anyday. Don't be pissy because your OS of choice is a bloated, vapor-full, piece of crap.

"Windows XP Setup Simulator 1.0
Windows XP Setup Simulator is a program that teaches you how to install Windows XP, without having to worry you will mess up your hardware or software. It just simulates installing Windows XP as if it was the real setup. It reproduces every step exactly as it is in the real setup, and it does not restart your computer. This program can also be used as a guide for learning how to install Windows 2003, because the steps are very similar. The package also includes an e-book that explains every step of the Windows XP Setup and some other Windows XP Basics. You can also find the simulation with every step explained in several languages." -BINK.nu
M$ now has a setup simulator to show all those people who cant install their OS... sounds like they are getting a bit desperate.

Complaints? Cry baby? Problem with Window security in the past and current? Forget all bad Window people. Switch to Mac OS X. Tiger eats fresh meat of Longhorn. Mac OS X is pinned under power of UNIX with pretty rich graphic you can't laugh. Window is quite ignorant. I will watch Longhorn. I will expect Mac OS X 10.5 in 2007 or so that further ahead of Longhorn. I am involved with developer with Apple. Is my langauge confusing you?

Hey, I'm a Windows user and fan, but doesn't sound like much good news in the short-term.
- Delay from mid to holiday 2006.
- The mini-tablet sounds neat, but that's 2007 (two more years).
- Need to wait til Sept. to see UI.
- Office 12 shipping without LH makes LH schedule seem even more tentative.
Even though the demos "weren't spectacular", was there something interesting in them?
Hope there's something more tomorrow.

Mac users: go to your corner.
Windows users: go to your corner.
Let's talk Longhorn. The following quote was made:
WHAT is new that we can look forward to. Can someone PLEASE translate the announcements for me so I know what to be excited about.

> how anyone can be a "fan" of Windows and passionately defend the platform baffles me given the contrast between the profitabilit and the lack of security and innovation.
I've been running Windows XP on various systems since the day it came out. I have no crashes, no viruses, no spyware, no security issues. Just a solid, reliable OS that works. Why would I not be a fan of that? It beats paying $129 every so often so Stevie can buy more black turtlenecks.

How can anybody that says macs are toys or for kids when you have access to an entire Unix subsystem in the OS that kicks Windiws *** when it comes to the prerequisite complexity required of a geek; just damned ignorant bigots.

I'm glad thats not the final UI in gates's keynote...its pretty unattractive. The only thing thats cool are those translucent title bars, athough I can only imagine they are distracting and hard to read.

Windows--for playing videogames, like The Sims. Or getting your computer exploited thanks to Internet Exploder or whatever other security exploit Microsoft has announced that week.
Macs--for actually getting your work done and never worrying about a virus or trojan again. "It just works."
Never underestimate the power of a monopoly when it comes to bad software. Windows users are living in a dream world where it's okay to run as an administrator account, get exploited through Internet Explorer, and upgrade their computers every twelve months just to boot the new version of Windows. In order to make themselves feel better, they bash some invented "market share" number, ignoring that market share numbers are derived from annual sales and not install base.
Meanwhile, new versions of OS X actually get faster on older hardware, like an operating system should. Microsoft has you guys by the balls.

Longhorn VAPOR vs. Tiger REALITY.
How you idiots could buy in to pre-canned movies & demo hype over a year & a half away to a shipping product is a testimonial to your ignorance.
Enjoy it, cause the .WMA stream is all you got.
=====================
Longhorn = VAPOR? That's funny, seeing as how I'm running Longhorn 5048 at this moment, and I have the visual effects turned on. They run just as fast as they do in the WinHEC keynote video. Mind you, they did try to hide the effects in the OS until they release the final UI in September, but with a registry key here, a driver there, and start a system service. . and bingo, visual effects just like in the VAPORWARE video you referenced. It shouldn't be surprising really. It's revolutionary, it just looks pretty.
Finally, here's a comment for you 15 year old Apple fanboys. If you are going to troll a Windows news site, at least try to sound intelligent?
>"damn this is funny, not so long ago you
>windows dorks would not even have mentioned the
>Mac! Now damn near every other post was talkin
>about tiger and or the Mac, get a life
>you loosers. End your Mac envy and get one,
>your jealousy is reaching an all time high and
>by the way did I mention that you are dorks"
Yeah, you tell 'em Sling Blade!

QUOTE:
"The Longhorn demos weren't particularly spectacular. Microsoft should have noted that the UI wasn't the final one. OS X fans will jeer at the quality of the Longhorn display that was showed off, for example"
QUESTION: Why would you care that OS X fans will jeer at the longhorn display?

I don't know what all this asinine arguing is. One OS (or tool) IDIOTS! has an indefensible file system core - registry and is internet useless, the other does not and is therefore internet useful (there's your COMPUTING morons!)

Longhorn, or 64-bit computing, for all the power they offer, are not to be relegated to use by only tech-heads-- the power allows the OS to be designed with greater levels of user friendliness than ever before. Longhorn is touted as being much more intuitive in operation-- even Grandma will find it more comfortable to use. Computers will only get more powerful, AND more useful to ordinary people as years go by. The problems with computers over the years have been the continuous need to keep them maintained-- generally only the computer savy have been able to keep their systems running in top form, and to benefit from the computer as a tool to be used in many areas of daily life. I think we are now beginning to see years of computer technology development culminate in newer systems that will deliver on many of the promises of computers made years ago--without having to be a computer nerd to get those benefits. Microsoft's huge outlay (and the partnerships with other companies)in .NET application services, Internet Explorer, Media PLayer, Media Center, Tablet PCs, Pocket PCs, and the new 64-bit processing committments, will soon (by the time of Longhorn) position Microsoft to integrate these technologies into the more user friendly, and "ubiquitous" computer devices of tomorrow. Everybody can be connected everywhere, at any time, to do all kinds of neat(and useful) things.

The ever-sliding Longhorn timeline makes me wonder if (in addition to the sheer complexity of such a big project) Microsoft might have some projected level-of-hardware-installed-base that they're waiting for, in order for Longhorn to seem zippy-quick on even "lowe end" systems of the time. This isn't a big conspiracy theory; it's simply true that as the predominant OS maker, which competes primarily against its own installed base, releasing an upgrade that seems sluggish would be a PR failure. It's OK that it's more resource-hungry, as long as it makes use of those resources to give a favorable end-user experience.
I'll be very curious to see the new Aero interface when it becomes available. I have to believe it's still undergoing substantial change; otherwise MS would have little to gain by not showing it off (even if the bits aren't included in the semi-public pre-releases). Unless they they're under the illusion that everyone will rush to copy Aero, but if that were the case they wouldn't be releasing much of it this coming summer.
I wonder if MS is being "safe" by now targeting Holiday 2006, or if there's some chance that Longhorn might actually slip past that time? Regardless of one's opinions of Mac OS X, it's likely that 18-24 months from now will see the release of 10.5. Apple's not really a close competitor in most markets [speaking strictly on sales numbers here, rather than technology], but Microsoft still seems to be ceding mindshare and enthusiasm points to them. And to a lesser extent, some of the open source efforts.
The comment "Well that’s the result of having one company make both the hardware and software" is interesting, mostly because it's difficult to see the correlation between features such as e.g. search (including dynamic folders, etc.), automator, desktop utilities, transparency, synchronization and the like having much to do with hardware. Neither Microsoft nor Apple make video cards, hard drives, network adapters, or many of the other compoents that comprise computers. Apple can certainly spec out their machines as desired, which gives theoretical boosts to things like battery life, and drastically limits the number of drivers that need to be developed, but really doesn't change anything at all about software product design, feature lists, GUI elements, search logic, or in fact much else that I can think of. The whole purpose of the HAL is to separate out *most* of Windows from the underlying hardware.
I have no dount that when Longhorn is released it will have some impressive technologies; some of those will no doubt foster work-alikes/look-alikes (to the inevitable cry of "they're copying us!", much like we hear from various camps right now, directed the other way). The primary question on my mind is: "Will the 5-year wait have been worth the result?"

"Fact: 1984: Macintosh GUI, NO Command line 1995: Win '95, first version that actually resembles a GUI"
So what you are saying is that Apple had an 11 year lead over Windows and still blew it because it overcharged users for 11 years. Wow. That was dumb.

How does someone saying "Yawn" qualify them as a Mac fan? Did I miss something?
As for "Macs are for artsy folks, period." comment. I don't even know where to start with that one. I can bet the submitter hasn't even touched a Mac, or done any research as to which verticals it is popular in.
And I'm a work/program PC during the day, come home to a Mac at night type of guy, so let's not start with the "Only Mac zealots would..." line. It is possible for someone to like more than one platform...

The platform is limited by the company that backs it. Jobs can't be trust: he's an enemy of basic liberties and he lies to his own customers. If Apple were MS's size, we'd be in serious trouble, and not just in computing. How can these Mac nuts wave the Apple flag, knowing what it represents?

Guys, Microsoft really needs to hit one out of the park with Longhorn.
Here's a picture I took at college during a break: http://www.pixelfreak.at/uploads/Image002.jpg
It's all Apple laptops. Apple has taken over the education sector. Unfortunately, if the system requirements for Longhorn really do require upwards of 3ghz (jesus, why so high?), I don't see people feeling the need to upgrade from XP, which suits most people just fine if they have a firewall running. I certainly don't feel the need especially when all the APIs are being backported anyway.
Apparently the only reason to upgrade to Longhorn will be for the GUI, which Microsoft has proven time and again is always ugly as hell and hard to use (Personalized Menus? What were they thinking?). In retrospect, Windows XP Luna looks embarrassing now. Aero Glass looks like it will be a shiny plastic version of Luna with OS X's window transitions. At least OS X keeps that stuff subtle enough that it's not annoying or repetitive.
We'll see...but Tiger has taken a big bite out of Longhorn's bark. The funny part is that Microsoft talks up Longhorn in the present tense, ignoring that it's still a year and a half away! Tiger is out now. The big problem is that by the time fall of 2007 rolls around, Steve Jobs will be talking up the next OS X and its new features, and what will Microsoft do then? Announce the long-delayed Blackcomb that will mysteriously have the new OS X's features, just like Longhorn did?
People are sick of Windows and the yearly PC ugprade cycle. They just want to be done with it and buy an iMac to use for five years. You can't use a PC from five years ago in this day and age (and you definitely won't be running Longhorn), but old Macs continue to run new OS X versions fine. It's obvious you get a better value from Apple in that department.

"AND PLEASE, do you REALLY think that Longhorn will improve security AT ALL! "
Answer: Yes.
Tiger OS isnt a major os, its a "cute" os. (Tiger is like a service pack with new icons).
Longhorn Is a MAJOR os.

It's been soooo long since a major Windows release... eek. Late 2006/early 2007? And to think we expected about two major releases by then, Longhorn and Blackomb. Indeed, they should change the codename just for the heck of it.

God, all of you are fighting over MAC or Windows, by golly, having a newer GUI, themes and all of that crap takes up more system memory and processor power....Screw Windows Longhorn and XP
Get WINDOWS 2000, STILL HAS SUPPORT AND HAVE NEVER HAD IT CRASH ONCE!! The Best Windows OS Period.

Photoshop? Informed Mac users just use the X Window system and enjoy open source alternatives like GIMP.
Now that's choice: KDE or Aqua. Unix / Linux ports or Carbon applications. The full GNU command line utilities (I use the GNU 'CP' more than the Unix!). Backwards compatible to OS 9.0 and before. And we can run just about anything Windows in virtual PC. Count 'em: that 5 operating systems' worth of software we can run. Mankind has never encoountered a more full choice operating system than OS X.

Paul is a smart business guy. He gets all these ppl to his blog. more hits...more ppl willing to put ads on his site. I use both OSx & Windows
So Apple & Microsoft wins. Microsoft doesnt have to do a thing. They have all the $$$. Anyway, Microsoft can make good software, they're just stuck having to support all these OEMs that make junk and have to rely on code that not only allow features to be added, but viruses too. The only reason Apple stuff works so well is because of Hard/Software integration. That's all it is... Tiger will be interesting. Longhorn will be too.
That's my boring, wordy comment. Exactly what is Paul's credentials regarding Windows & Mac anyway...